Wilderness Committee horrified at the thought of moving the products through both ports

Oil and gas products could eventually be moving through both Metro Vancouver ports, not just Burrard Inlet.

News1130 has learned representatives from Delta including the mayor have teamed up with Port Metro Vancouver on a five-day trip to Norway, learning from experienced agencies there about the best way to ship oil and liquefied natural gas.

It’s in part to consider future exports through Deltaport and industrial operations on the Fraser River.

“We’re horrified to be quite honest,” says Eoin Madden who speaks for the Wilderness Committee. “It’s yet another step toward there being a huge outflux of bitumen through the Lower Mainland right when people have made it very clear here they don’t want oil pipelines or tankers on their shores,” he says.

For now, it’s only being called a ‘fact finding mission’ but it would be a first for Deltaport which ships mainly coal and containers.

The trip is costing Delta taxpayers an estimated $16,000, according to municipal documents.

If approved, oil to Deltaport could move by rail — another big concern for the Wildnerness Committee which says it’s more dangerous than using pipelines. It comes as Calgary-based Cenovus energy has leased 800 rail cars, aiming to triple its oil-by-rail capacity next year to 30,000 barrels.

The Ministry of Environment says a policy intentions paper for consultation was released in November 2012 which outlined how government will work with industry including the rail sector to create a world-class spill response regime that deals with all hazardous materials spills.